EPISODES:  Sunday 10:30PM on Showtime EPISODES, written from beginning to end by David Crane (a creator of Friends) and fellow sitcom vet Jeffrey Klarik, improved considerably in its second season, adding some shading to its original cartoon about a married pair of relative babes-in-the-woods British writer/producers corrupted by the comfort and thorough superficiality of […]

  FAKING IT:  Tuesday 10:30PM on MTV FAKING IT is intended as the companion piece to MTV’s hit scripted comedy Awkward., which serves as its lead-in, but on the basis of its pilot, it has nothing like the original comic voice of Lauren Iungerich’s show (of course, now that Iungerich has stepped away from Awkward., […]

  MASTERS OF SEX:  Sunday 10PM on Showtime MASTERS OF SEX was one of television’s best surprises last season.  Despite a title and premise–the groundbreaking study of human sexuality by Dr. William Masters and Virginia Johnson–that seemed to promise a pay-cable softcore version of history, Michelle Ashford’s series was so bracingly smart and emotionally complicated […]

  EYE CANDY:  Monday 10PM on MTV – If Nothing Else Is On… MTV has been on a good run with its scripted programming lately, including strong shows like Finding Carter and Faking It; even the now-canceled Happyland had its bright moments.  The new EYE CANDY, though, is extremely dumb stuff. The thriller is based […]

  THE BRINK:  Sunday 10:30PM on HBO – If Nothing Else Is On… THE BRINK will make you appreciate the precision and verbal dexterity of Veep.  Actually, although it’s an HBO political satire, The Brink gets most of its inspiration from an earlier classic of the form, Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove.  Much as in that […]

  HOMELAND:  Sunday 9PM on Showtime It’s been a bumpy ride for HOMELAND fans.  For its first season and a half, the series was as good as anything on the air, only to go off the rails for a like amount of time, as it tried with increasing desperation to accommodate the doomed romance of […]

  THE STRAIN:  Sunday 10PM on FX FX’s goofiest drama, THE STRAIN, is back for its third season, long-tongued vampiric monsters and Eastern European mythology intact.  Season 2 may have been less notable for killing off leading lady Mia Maestro than for finally letting Corey Stoll discard his awful toupee, and while there’s no sign […]

  THE MICK:  Tuesday 8:30PM on FOX – Change the Channel FOX has ushered in network TV 2017 with a show that feels less than fresh:  THE MICK, a sitcom that’s basically a not-quite-cable retread of Uncle Buck. The irresponsible relative is an aunt this time, and Mackenzie (Kaitlin Olson) is meant to be edgier, […]